What Never Changes
by dandelion-heart
Summary: It's an odd thing, the gift of storytelling...it seems not to pick the storyteller, but the story itself.


**What Never Changes**

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_The rain pounded over their heads and they crouched out of sight, hidden by the swirling mist and fog._

_The darkness tightened around them and they shivered, hearing the mute call of the dragon lurking nearby._

_It was hours before sunrise and they knew escape would be futile, for the dragons of the East were feared for hiding in the shadows of night._

_However, they reasoned, it was the light that burned the dragons' eyes and would perhaps save them from certain death._

The children gasped, mouths open, eyes wide and transfixed on the speaker, listening raptly to every word.

_So, making sure that the candle they held close had enough wick and wax to burn brightly, they crept to the mouth of their cave, waiting for the moment when the dragon would approach._

"What a brave candle," a little boy whispered to a chorus of excited murmurs and nodding heads.

_Indeed, the candle knew it must not go out despite the howling wind and freezing rain- so it stayed bright, and watched for the two as the dragon came closer…and closer…and closer…_

One little girl hid her face in her shawl and two tall boys swallowed nervously, avoiding the dancing shadows on the wooden wall.

_But then! The smoke of the little fire the two had drifted to the dragon's keen nostrils and with one terrific breath, it blew out the light and the two travelers were suddenly right where the dragon wanted them, with no way to escape._

"The candle," the small boy whispered but no one else spoke or moved, not even daring to breathe.

_The dragon could smell them now, soft, human flesh that he had not tasted for years, and he came eagerly to the cave, his mouth opening and fangs dripping with poisonous saliva. And there they were, looking up, brave even in the face of death when-_

"Sheeta!"

The spell was broken and the children's heads snapped to the side where a portly elderly woman with bright pink hair stood, smirking good-naturedly with a ladle in her hand.

"No matter how much you tell them stories, it's not gonna make the food suddenly appear on the table!"

"Sorry Dola," Sheeta smiled sheepishly, her previously low, deep voice smoothing into a softer, sweeter tone. "I'll be back children, so don't worry about the ending."

The children groaned and pulled faces at Dola who only cast them a few harmless glares in retaliation.

The young man sitting in the corner of the room suddenly stood up and strode toward the chair Sheeta had sat in moments before, grinning at the bewildered looking children.

"What say I help finish the story?"

"Uncle Patsu, you never make it as exciting!"

He frowned. "That's not true, I'm a good storyteller!"

"Not as good as Aunt Sheeta," a tiny girl said, laughing at Patsu's mock grimace.

"Let me try anyways," he grinned, and the children subconsciously leaned forwards.

_It was then that the girl of the two stood up, eyes blazing with a knife in her hands. The dragon didn't quite know what to make of this- he only had ever eaten cowards and though the girl didn't look as if she posed any threat, he was still curious._

_So he asked in his rumbling voice, "Little human, do you want to be eaten first? I promise it will be quick," and he smiled in a sinister way, revealing all of his yellow teeth._

_She nodded with a strange smile and said, "I would be honored to be eaten by the likes of you, oh mighty dragon, but there's a small problem." She gestured towards her hand free of the knife and the dragon saw that there was another hand there, connected to a boy he had not seen before._

_"Would you be able to swallow something so big?" they asked, smiling cheerfully before the befuddled beast. The dragon was large but his mouth could only fit one human, and so the food in front of him would only choke him._

_But then an idea came to him and he smiled, which is not a very pleasant look on a dragon and both of the brave travelers were taken aback by the sight._

_"I'll just bite off one half and then bite off the other!" The dragon said, very pleased with himself, and he lunged forward, eyes gleaming._

_The boy spoke this time right before he was swallowed, "Stupid dragon! You can't bite us off like that!" and so he had to pause, questioning the humans with his red eyes._

_"We're filled with poison at the middle. You'll die unless you eat us in one gulp!"_

_The dragon was not happy anymore; he was feeling much better when the girl had just been there, the boy was making too much noise. And he was also delaying his dinner; his long stomach growled and the dragon scowled, which was an even worse look than the smile._

_"You are lying, little human. I will not die!"_

_"Have you ever seen humans like us before?" the girl asked quietly, her eyes still as strong as ever. The dragon knew this was the one thing keeping him from devouring the two humans and so he finally conceded, glowering as they explained how he would eat them._

_"We will wait until you open your mouth as much as you can and then, we will jump into your throat."_

_This hardly sounded like an ideal plan because he did not want to choke, but the dragon was famished and the weather was extremely cold so he finally roared in approval, opening his mouth to the limit._

_Now inside a dragon's mouth, you can see right before the tunnel throat, there's soft muscle and it will not press down on anything like the jaws or mouth. The dragon could not see over his smoking snout but the boy held a pole that he placed carefully in the softness before the neck. Then, both the girl and boy shouted loudly, "Swallow!"_

_And of course the dragon tried to close his mouth but the pole wouldn't let him, firmly staying in place deep in his mouth where his tongue couldn't curl to or swallow away._

_The girl and boy by this time were out of the mouth and running down the pasture, breathless and overjoyed. And of course, they were still holding hands, to show the dragon, in case he came back after them, though that did not happen, that they were really unlike any of the humans he had seen before._

The burst of applause that followed was accompanied by laughs and grins, as the children beamed up at Patsu, sitting with a satisfied expression on his round face.

"It was boring this time, too?"

"No, not at all!" The unanimous reply came as the door opened and Sheeta walked into the room.

"Dinner is ready! And after that, I promise I will finish the story alright?" She smiled, expecting to hear groans and a demand for the finale at once.

Instead the children simply stood and hurried to the kitchen, the clamor echoing off the walls. She blinked as the room emptied and then turned to Patsu, eyes narrowed.

"You finished it, I'm guessing?"

"With success," he winked, stretching. "But it's tiring. I was running out of ideas at the end."

"How did it end?"

He took her hand with a grin, leading her to the kitchen.

"The way it always ends. We live happily ever after, holding hands along the way."

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**A/N:** My attempt at a drabble for the tournament between me and Nayuki-Bunny! I absolutely adore this movie and the characters; their love story is one of the sweetest and most innocent I have ever seen. Please leave a review if you enjoyed!


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